


Bring Colour To My Skies

by bluewishdust



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2018-06-04 06:58:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6646822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluewishdust/pseuds/bluewishdust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ciri and Mistle meet coincidentally and are not able to forget about each other.</p><p>Modern AU in which Geralt owns a pub.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am not very familiar with writing the Witcher characters so I am a bit nervous about posting this...  
> But I love Ciri and Mistle a lot and there is so little fanfiction for this pairing that I just had to write something about them. Please tell me if you have anything to criticize? (It's important to me to get the characters right, so I would love to get some feedback...)  
> I hope you like it!

As Ciri was about to take a sip from her lemonade the door opened. The young woman who entered the pub was dressed awfully fancy. Ciri couldn’t help but stare at her, this outfit practically invited to do so. 

It was an odd hour to visit a pub and far too early to be dressed like this. The woman was tall and her fair hair was very short. Her long legs looked amazing in the shiny, tight trousers she was wearing and the fabric of her brightly coloured blouse looked very expensive. She was wearing a lot of jewellery too and boots which reached over her knees. Ciri decided not to think about how much this outfit must have cost as she hid her face behind the book she was reading.

She sat at the same table as always, it was her favourite pub after all, and she came by so often that the table was practically hers, that she nearly belonged to the inventory. This small but comfortable room was where she felt at home and the people working here were like family to her. Geralt, the owner, always knew what she wanted to drink before she had even opened her mouth and he treated her more like a daughter than like a customer. 

Maybe that was why she visited this pub nearly every day, (at early hours even, when she was the only customer most of the time) to do her homework, to chat with Geralt or to read. She usually left before the bar got crowded, but to be fair, it barely ever filled at all. 

Normally the only one visiting besides her was Dandelion, a musician and self- called future rock star, who had been hired by Geralt ages ago to entertain the customers on busy nights. Since there never were busy nights here, his only function seemed to be looking pretty and getting on Geralt’s nerves from time to time. He was here today too, sitting at his usual spot at the bar.

Another frequent visitor was Geralt’s ex-wife, Yennefer, who practically owned half of the pub since she and Geralt had bought it when they had still been together. It was never boring with her around, but seldom as comfortable. When she was here the air seemed tense, filled with lightning. 

The woman who had just entered however had never been here before as far as Ciri knew. Although she had forced herself to look away, she couldn’t fail to notice, that the attractive woman had an attractive voice as well as she ordered a hot chocolate.

Who ordered a hot chocolate at a pub? Ciri looked up from her book again, because she wanted to take another look at the woman, who was waiting for her beverage now, impatiently playing with the coins she had put on the counter. As soon as her hands closed around the mug Geralt was eventually handing to her, she seemed fully content again.

Which table was she going to sit down at? There were quite a lot to choose from after all. Ciri got startled when she realized that the woman was heading straight towards hers.

“Is this seat taken?” the fashionable woman, who looked more like a girl of close, asked. She sat down across from Ciri, before awaiting an answer. Why was Ciri’s table the one she had decided to sit down at, if it was literally the only one occupied?

Apparently Ciri had looked at her warily because the girl added: “You sat there all by yourself. Decided to keep your company.” She took a sip from her hot chocolate and smirked. 

Ciri was still not quite sure what to say considering this behaviour, but the other girl didn’t seem to mind because she just kept talking.

“I am Mistle,” she said, “Nice to meet you.” She licked cream from her lips.

“Ciri,” Ciri answered out of courtesy, still a bit confused. She send a helpless look to Geralt, who had been staring at the two girls, but he just shrugged and turned back to his work. It was quite obvious that he didn’t know this Mistle either.

“So you come here often?” said girl tried to get Ciri’s attention back.

“Yes,” Ciri said, “Often enough to know that you are not from around here.” She couldn’t help the suspicious undertone in her voice. 

Mistle giggled, ignoring Ciri’s statement. She leaned closer. “I like your hair by the way,” she then stated and reached out to push a loose strain of hair behind Ciri’s ear, “Very pretty.”

Ciri blushed a bit, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion. “Thank you,” she just said, slightly embarrassed, “I like your hair...too.” 

They started talking about various irrelevant things and kept doing so until Mistle had finished her drink. During the conversation Ciri felt more and more comfortable in her company. This girl had a way of talking that put her at ease.

“I fear I have to go now,” Mistle said at one point, “I’ ve already been here longer than I had intended to.”

She got up and waved at Ciri before walking towards the door. “Good bye,” she said loudly enough for everyone else (which was of course only Geralt and Dandelion) to hear, announcing her departure. 

As soon as the door had fallen shut behind her, Ciri got up and walked towards the counter. She tried to ignore the hotness of her cheeks, the vague feeling of excitement which the encounter had left her behind with.

“Where did she know you from?”, was the first thing Geralt asked.

“She didn’t,” Ciri answered, “She just came up to me and started… talking.”

Geralt raised an eyebrow. “You two seemed quite familiar,” he determined.

Ciri shrugged. 

“Is she coming back?”, Dandelion asked, grinning, “She was kinda pretty.”

Geralt sighed. “Regardless if she is coming back or not…” he said, “She is far too young and clearly not interested in you.” 

“You think so?” Dandelion wanted to know, as if he couldn’t quite process the fact, that someone wouldn’t find him interesting, “We’ll see about that.”

Geralt looked at Ciri, smiling. “I already saw all I had to,” he said. Ciri turned away.

“You are just jealous, aren’t you?” Dandelion said.

Geralt growled silently. “And you are the most useless musician I have ever hired.”

“I am the only musician you have ever hired,” Dandelion countered, “Probably because there is not a single person around, who can sing better than I do.” He pushed his hair back. Geralt rolled his eyes.

Ciri who had sit down at the bar giggled. Here they were again, quarrelling like an old married couple. She watched them silently. Everything was like it always had been. 

Only that there was a new image in her head now. A new voice in her ear. A new face that she couldn’t quite forget about.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciri skips school to hang out with Mistle instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry for not posting anything for so long, but I have an awful lot to do lately. I hope you can forgive me and I hope you enjoy this chapter nevertheless!

When they met for the second time it was early in the morning. 

Ciri was on the subway. She was barely awake, found herself between other tired people on their way to work. Her mind was empty, she was only concentrating on her eyes not falling shut. Ciri had not slept well.

When she felt a hand grabbing her shoulder she woke suddenly and her senses returned to her. Who dared to touch her?

As she turned around furiously, Ciri found a familiar face. A familiar and very beautiful face. Mistle looked dashing and there was a wicked grin on her lips. For the first time this morning Ciri had no problem with keeping her eyes open.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" Mistle asked casually, her hand still on Ciri's shoulder. 

"Hello," Ciri said puzzled, "And yes. You do know me. I mean... We've met once."

Mistle smiled, more friendly now, less wickedly. She finally took her hand away and Ciri already missed it. 

"Yes of course, I remember!" Mistle then said, "I would have never been able to forget those eyes of yours." 

Ciri couldn’t tell if Mistle was joking or not. She just found herself staring. Mistles eyes were framed in glittery black and her clothes were dark and tight and shiny. She didn't look like work or school. She looked like something more exciting.

"Where are you headed?" Mistle then asked since Ciri had stayed silent. 

Ciri pointed at her backpack. "I am on my way to school," she answered and hated herself a little bit for saying something as pathetic.

Mistle snorted. "Don't you have something better to do?" she asked and looked deep into Ciri's eyes.

As Ciri was just about to answer something witty, the train suddenly shifted and she incidentally found herself pressed against the other girl. Mistle smelled of smoke and perfume and adventure.

"How about you hang out with me instead?" Mistle who was suddenly close, much too close, whispered.

Ciri didn't even have to think about it. Anything seemed better than spending yet another day with her dull classmates. And being with Mistle seemed better than anything. 

“Alright,” Ciri said and tried to sound casual. She felt as if she was blushing. Her cheeks were burning up.

Mistle’s eyes lit up with joy. “Great,” she said, “Let’s get out of here then.”

The train stopped, she took Ciri’s hand, and dragged her out of the subway. Ciri felt as if she was maybe just imagining this. But no. This was real, their fingers laced together, her feet stumbling after the other girl’s. She wondered what she had gotten herself into.

............................................................

Mistle took her to a park which Ciri had never seen before. They sat down on a bench. The morning sky was grey and the air around them was fresh.

“Do you smoke?” she asked Ciri while drawing a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket. 

“Sometimes…” Ciri answered, although she never did. She had never cared much about smoking.

Mistle lit two cigarettes and handed one to her. Ciri didn’t really know what to do with it. She put it to her mouth and took a drag which was so cautious that she barely inhaled any smoke at all. Mistle didn’t seem to notice. She was staring at the sky while exhaling thick clouds of smoke. Both girls were quiet for a while.

“So uhm…” Ciri tried to start a conversation, “Do you come here often?”

Mistle giggled. “That is exactly what I asked you, when we first met,” she said, “You can’t just use the very same pick- up line I used back then. Are you that bad at flirting? That’s not how it works.”

Ciri blushed, a hint of anger on her face. “I wasn’t…” she tried to voice her indignation, “I wasn’t flirting… I was just trying to…”

Mistle simply smiled.

“Oh wait,” Ciri continued, a cocky smile appearing on her face, “Were you just admitting that you were flirting with me the other time?”

“Are you only noticing that now?”, Mistle asked back, a wicked grin on her lips, a devouring look in her eyes. For a moment it seemed as if she was about to lean closer. But then she looked away again, focusing on the cigarette between her fingers.

Ciri had already kind of forgotten about hers. 

She found herself thinking about Mistle’s lips instead. Wondering if Mistle’s lips would taste like smoke and ash and proscribed things or something else entirely. The thoughts confused her and she tried to look away.

“Anyways…” Mistle, who suddenly seemed a bit nervous, added, “What are you doing when you are not hanging out in unfrequented pubs?” 

Ciri, who somehow was not ready to give up the topic just yet, asked: “Was that a pickup line too?”

Mistle smiled, still not looking at Ciri again, and bashfully ran her hand through her short hair. “You are kinda cute, you know that?” she stated. This wasn’t the answer Ciri had expected, but it still was answering her question in some sort of way. 

“You are too,” Ciri said and meant it.

Mistle laughed. “Cute?” she asked, “There is nothing cute about me…”

“Yes there is,” Ciri answered louder than intended, a stubborn look on her face, “For example: The way you wrinkled your nose just now when you were laughing… That was really cute.” 

Mistle took a final drag from her cigarette, supressing another laugh. 

“Well…” she said, “Good to know that both of us are cute. Maybe we should hang out more often and find out if there’s more we have in common…”

…………………………………

When Ciri came home hours later she still was still feeling fuzzy. It was only now that she realised she should probably have asked for Mistle’s phone number.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just the usual day at the pub. Also a pleasant surprise for Ciri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know how to apologize anymore (I haven't been writing anything for far too loooong argh). If you are still here and interested in this, kudos to you for your patience. I hope my writing didn't start to rust or anything and that you can still enjoy the story.

As soon as school was over Ciri headed to Geralt’s pub.

It had been a few days since she had skipped class to hang out with Mistle, this fancy dressed girl, and although she knew perfectly well that is was highly unlikely for a stranger like her to revisit a less frequented pub like Geralt’s, she still couldn’t bring herself from hoping that Mistle would somehow show up there once again.

Out of inexplicable reasons Ciri couldn’t stop thinking about the conversations she had shared with the other young woman. She didn’t understand why she still couldn’t get Mistle’s voice out of her head or why she felt the urge to find her again. She didn’t even know what she would say to Mistle if she met her again, only that she really wanted to.

Mistle was basically a stranger, and Ciri was a bit uncomfortable with feeling this drawn to someone she barely knew at all.

Ciri passed the sign which read „White Wolf“ and opened the heavy door.

As soon as she had entered the pub she noticed the penetrant smell of perfume.This, Dandelion’s disgruntled smile, and Geralt’s frown could only mean one thing.

“Yennefer is here?” Ciri asked cheerfully instead of a greeting.

Before either of the men could answer, Yennefer herself came out of the bathroom.

“Not for very much longer, I fear,” she said and drew Ciri into a quick hug, careful not to wrinkle her silky blouse in the process.

She was dressed in all black and her makeup game was as strong as usual. She then took a step back to examine Ciri from head to toe. Then she shook her head. Then she smiled.

“I wonder when you will finally start dressing like the young woman you are, dearest,” she said, “You look like nothing but a child.”

Her tone was loving but Ciri still felt a bit embarrassed by her words.

Geralt sighed in the background and Dandelion was as uncommonly quiet as he always was during Yennefer’s visits.

“I wish I could spare more time to talk to you, but I really have to leave…” Yennefer than added, grabbing her purse from behind the counter, “You shouldn’t always waste your days in this hole either. Aren’t there any boys your age you can play around with?” She winked at her.

Ciri didn’t know how to tell her that lately she didn’t find herself interested in boys at all.

Yennefer nodded at the others. “Good bye, Yen,” Geralt said, both relieved and disappointed about her departure.

“See you,” Yennefer answered and headed towards the door, her black hair falling down her back, her hips swaying, her walk as steady as if nothing could ever get in her way.

The door fell shut behind her and Dandelion who always seemed intimidated in her company relaxed immediately.

“This woman is incredible,” he stated, “A force of nature…” Considering his tone of voice Ciri wasn’t sure whether he meant it in a positive or in a negative way.

Geralt changed the topic. “What brought you here today, Ciri?” he asked, a bright smile appearing on his tired face.

“The usual,” Ciri said and smiled back. He handed her a bottle of her favourite lemonade.

After taking a big sip Ciri realized that Dandelion was staring at her, a wide grin on his face.She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Geralt,” he called cheerfully without looking away from Ciri, his hands waving in excitement, “Tell her! Yen’s gone, Ciri is here, I’ve been waiting all day. Tell her right now!”

Geralt sighed. “Calm down for fuck's sake…” he muttered. Then he handed Ciri a small piece of paper, which seemed tiny in his big hands, it was wrinkled and folded in half.

“Early in the morning this girl stopped by and told us to give you this when she didn’t find you here,” he explained.

“This girl?” Ciri asked, unfolding the piece of paper, her heart starting to beat faster. There was a phone number written on it.

“Yes!” Dandelion squealed, “The pretty one, the slender, short haired one!”

At this point Ciri could feel herself blushing. Mistle.

“Girl, she is obviously interested in you?” the self- called rock star continued, as Ciri didn’t reply, “What are you going to write her? Should I help you? Without bragging, I am quite good with words and I know what the ladies want.” He leaned closer and the grin on his annoyingly pretty face grew even wider.

Geralt pulled him back by the collar of his brightly coloured, richly patterned shirt. “Keep out of this,” he rebuked him, “That’s Ciri’s business and nobody else’s. She can manage on her own.”

He shoved him away from where Ciri had sat down, but not without smiling at her. “Just call if you need another drink,” he said lovingly.

Feeling very thankful Ciri started to type a text message to Mistle. Then she erased it. Then she typed it again. And then changed a line. After reading through it at least five times and deciding on which emoticons to use (she decided to not use any) she signed her name and was finally brave enough to send it.

As if she had been waiting all day, Mistle replied instantly:

_does your favourite pub have a room where we can talk without you those two curious uncles of yours listening? if yes: lets meet there tomorrow afternoon? if no: lets still meet. i really wanna talk to you again (in person that is ;))_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geralt finds out something worrysome about Mistle and Ciri doesn't listen to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the next chapter, maybe it's a bit more exciting than the last ones? Let me know what you think and thank you for your patience!

_omw cant wait to see u :P_

Ciri read Mistle’s text and couldn’t help grinning. Her face was glowing and she couldn’t believe how excited she was. She had always loved staying at Geralt’s pub, but being here, knowing that Mistle would come too, was even better.

Geralt seemed to notice her excitement. “Are you texting the girl again?” he asked. There was something sinister in these words and Ciri didn’t quite understand why he suddenly made such a serious face when addressing the topic.

“Yes,” she said and smiled, a bit confused.

Geralt made a grunting noise. He looked around, as if to make sure that they were alone (which was kind of unnecessary since Dandelion wasn’t here yet out of whatever reason), and leant closer.

“Look, Cirillia,” he said, and Ciri frowned for he never used that name on her, “There is something important I need to tell you, concerning this Mistle person.”

Ciri crossed her arms, not suspecting good. “Okay?” she stated harshly, feeling as if nothing could ever change her opinion on Mistle, “Tell me.”

Geralt sighed, struggling for words. „You really seem to like her, but that’s one reason more why I have to warn you,” he began silently, “I know she seems really nice, but she isn’t good company. At all. I’ve heard rumours about her… ugly rumours to be truthful.”

“What do you mean you’ve _heard rumours_?” Ciri responded strictly. She felt as if there was more to it.

“Okay... I may or may not have asked around a bit…” he confessed under the look she was giving him, “And the fact alone that a lot of shady people claim to know her is…”

“You spied on her?” Ciri interrupted him, feeling anger growing inside her, “What the hell, Geralt?”

She got up, and would have liked to just leave, but Geralt gently and firmly grabbed her arm.

“Whatever, just… listen to this one thing I have to say, please.” He tried to calm her down.

Ciri looked at him. “I’m waiting.” she said.

“I’ve heard that she belongs to an infamous group of adolescents who deal drugs,” he continued and Ciri wasn’t sure if she had understood him right, “And I am not talking about weed or something. Real drugs. Stuff they will lock you up for if they find you with it. Stuff that makes people sick. People like you who don’t know what they are getting into.”

Ciri blinked. “You are actually claiming that _Mistle_ is a drug dealer?” she called out, “Are we even talking about the same girl?”

Geralt sighed again and for a moment he looked really old.

“I know this might be hard for you to understand,” he spoke, “But my sources are reliable. You know that I myself had problems with... substance abuse… in the past… Believe me I know what I am talking about here. I’ve known people like Mistle. They might seem harmless but they are ruthless and dangerous. And you only realize it when it’s already too late.”

Ciri stayed silent. She couldn’t believe this. It was true, she didn’t really know, what Mistle was up to, but that didn’t automatically mean that she was bad influence, did it?

“Ciri, I don’t tell you this to anger you…” Geralt added, and the fact that he was this talkative today showed that he was actually serious about it, “But is there anything you know about her besides that she has a pretty face? Have you for example ever wondered about where all this fancy clothes and jewellery she’s wearing are coming from? Things like that are expensive! No normal person this young can afford that. ”

Ciri’s anger grew. “Well maybe she stole all of it!” she shouted, “If she’s really the criminal you think she is!” She turned around and made her way towards the exit.

“Ciri, please…” Geralt called after her, but she walked on, “I just want you to be save. Try to stay away from Mistle and rats like her.”

As the door fell shut behind her, Ciri closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath in. What was going on? Geralt wouldn’t lie to her, she knew that. But all of this seemed somewhat fishy to her. Should she stop seeing Mistle? That was impossible! She _needed_ to see her again…

But she should probably keep Mistle from coming to Geralt’s pub for a while.

As she was standing there, thinking, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. “I hope you’re not leaving already!” she heard a beautiful voice say.

Mistle. She was standing right in front of her, smiling and as stunningly pretty as she had been the last times.

Her eyes where framed in violet glitter today and she was once again wearing tight trousers and high boots. Was that how drug dealers looked like?

The more Ciri thought about it, the more sense Geralt’s words made though. She really didn’t know a thing about Mistle. The girl was highly mysterious. But on the other hand...

On the other hand being next to Mistle made Ciri’s heart flutter and her hands shake. On the other hand seeing Mistle felt like watching the sun rise after a long night.

“Is there something wrong, beautiful?” Mistle asked, confused.

Ciri, ignoring the fact that Mistle not only had just called her beautiful but also had sensed that something was off just by looking at her, grabbed Mistle’s arm and dragged her into the narrow alley which lead to the back door of the White Wolf pub. Geralt mustn’t see them. And back here there were no windows.

“We can’t be seen here together today… Geralt is… Nevermind just… Sorry we can’t go inside. We have to somehow get away from here without him seeing us.” Ciri rambled.

“Oh and for a moment I thought there was another reason for you to drag me into an abandoned alley.” Mistle answered in a playful tone, “Now I’m almost disappointed.”

Ciri ignored the remark. “I am so glad that you are here,” she said truthfully, “And I am very sorry for this whole situation but it seems like my dear friend in there has changed his opinion on you. He apparently thinks we should stop hanging out.”

Mistle frowned. “Why?” she asked, suddenly serious, “What did I do?”

Ciri shook her head. She wasn’t ready to talk about this. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter,” she stated, “If I’d agree with him we wouldn’t be standing here, right?”

Mistle’s smile came back in an instant. “Well the good thing about this whole alley situation is, that we seem to be all alone and undisturbed right now.” she whispered.

Ciri was about to ask what she meant by that, as she saw Geralt’s familiar silhouette walking down the main street. Was he going after her?

“Shhh!” she made, putting herself closer to the wall, dragging Mistle with her, “He mustn’t see us!”

Only a moment later, when Geralt had walked past them, Ciri realised how close Mistle suddenly was: Ciri was leaning with her back to the wall and Mistle was standing right in front of her, their faces and torsos almost touching. Blushing hard Ciri let go of Mistle.

The other girl looked dazzled for a moment. Then she giggled. “You are pretty bold today,” she commented on the situation, “If we weren’t hiding, one could think that you were trying to seduce me, pulling me towards you like that.”

She grinned and Ciri froze. She couldn’t remember being this close to anyone.

“Do I make you nervous?” Mistle asked and reached out to touch the wall next to Ciri’s head.

“No,” Ciri said and it was barely audible. She looked deep into Mistle’s eyes as if to proof her own words.

Maybe Ciri was nervous. She didn’t know. There was no reason to be, was there? They were standing too close together, that was all. And still. Ciri’s heart seemed to beat so much faster all of a sudden. She could smell Mistle’s perfume.

Was it true, that the other girl was dangerous? Suddenly Ciri seemed to forget the question.

She felt Mistle’s fingers playing with the seam of her shirt, the tall girl’s fingertips touching the vulnerable skin of Ciri’s stomach in the process, as if by accident.

But this was not accidental. Mistle’s eyes suggested that she knew exactly what she was doing, that this had just become more than just coincidentally standing too close together.

Before Ciri had decided if she should shove Mistle away or not the other girl’s hand wandered even further under Ciri’s shirt, unmistakably revealing Mistle’s intentions once and for all.

“Well…” Mistle whispered, “I myself am a bit nervous. Don’t always get to lay my hands on something this pretty.”

_“Is that all I am to you?”_ , a defensive thought appeared in Ciri’s head, _“Something pretty you can just touch without asking first?”_

She didn’t say anything though, for she liked the sensation Mistle’s touch had left on her skin. She was overwhelmed by how much she liked it.

Ciri smiled. This was what she wanted. Mistle, Mistle standing too close, Mistle touching her.

For the moment she didn’t care about all the rest, about if this was right or not.

Mistle noticed the smile immediately and the grin on her own lips grew even wider. She leaned closer and Ciri automatically did too.

As their lips were just about to meet, the back door next to them swung open.

“Geralt, where aaare you?” Dandelion shrieked while bursting into the alley. Then he suddenly froze, realizing that what he was seeing was not meant for his eyes.

Although Mistle had backed up immediately as soon as he had shown up, it was still quite obvious what was going on.

“My apologies,” he blurted out hectically and stormed back into the pub again.

Mistle looked caught. “Shit, I am sorry,” she said and awkwardly combed through her short hair, “I shouldn’t have done this. Especially not here.” She took a few steps back. “That wasn’t the right moment and place for this.”

Before Ciri had a chance to reply, Dandelion showed up again, his face quite red. “Look girls, I really don’t want to disturb but I just can’t find Geralt anywhere!” he exclaimed, the tone of his voice appropriate to this dire situation, “Where _is_ he?”

“He’ll be back shortly, I am sure,” Ciri sighed, “Actually I was hiding from him, so please don’t talk about what you just saw.”

“Ah I understand,” Dandelion said cheerfully, “He won’t hear about it.” He winked.

Ciri glared at him. “No, I am serious,” she declared, “He mustn’t know that Mistle was here. And that we… yeah. Just don’t tell him!”

Dandelion looked confused for a second and then he nodded, a quite serious expression on his face. “Your secret is safe with me.” he said, sounding trustworthily.

He gave Mistle a nod and then he walked inside again.

Mistle smiled nervously. “So I am your secret now, hm?” she asked and gently took Ciri’s hand.

Ciri shrugged and tried to look away.

“I should probably leave though before… Geralt?... before Geralt comes back,” she then added, “Are you coming with me?”

Ciri nodded.

_“You are my secret…”_ , she thought while walking after her, _“But what is yours?”_


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mistle and Ciri go to a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am rather insecure about this chapter but I hope you like it! Let me know what you think :)
> 
> A huge thank you to thegrimshapeofyoursmile for helping me to edit this.

Ciri was standing in front of the entrance to a huge apartment complex. She didn’t even know who exactly it belonged to, but this was the place where one of Dandelion’s infamous parties was being held.

And for once Ciri had been invited.

Maybe Dandelion had felt bad for disturbing Mistle and her the other day or he was just trying to prove that he could be a trustworthy friend to her, but he had insisted on her showing up. He had also insisted on her bringing Mistle.

“Geralt never comes to my parties, probably afraid that he would have fun for once,” he had said as he had handed her the invitation, “So the two of you and whatever secret thing you’re sharing will be safe.”

And so she was standing here, waiting for her date- if she could even call Mistle that- to show, already thinking about how this was a terrible idea on a lot of different levels.

She heard steps on the pavement and turned around. Mistle was arriving, moving through the night light-footed like a cat. She was wearing a really tight, bright red top, black leather pants, high heels and a wicked smile. Ciri needed a moment to find her breath again.

She dragged Mistle into a quick hug to greet her and noticed once again how nice she smelled. Really nice.

“Hi,” Mistle whispered into her ear while hugging her back. As they parted they looked at each other for a moment, an awkward silence and a whole lot of unresolved tension between them. Ciri suddenly remembered Mistle’s lips nearly touching her own. She blushed.“We should probably go inside,” she mumbled and turned towards the door.

“Right!” Mistle answered and followed her. Ciri hoped that the other girl hadn't noticed how red her face had become.

The entrance hall was quite dark and so was the staircase, but they heard music from above.

As the got into the elevator both of them stayed silent, but Mistle grinned slightly after its doors had closed behind them. They stood unnecessaryly close together. Ciri’s cheeks felt too hot and she tried not to look at Mistle.

The last time they had stood this close together, they had nearly kissed and both of them knew it. They didn’t talk about it now and they hadn’t talked about it after it had happened either.

After they had fled the pub, the girls had bought themselves some ice cream and had eaten it in silence. Then they had talked about everything but the thing that was going on between them. Since then they had only texted.

Ciri didn’t know if Mistle wanted to talk about it… she didn’t even know if she herself wanted to talk about it. She was not sure what exactly was going on as well, and she was only sure of the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about the short haired girl, that she couldn’t spent a day without texting her and that it was nearly unbearable to stand this close together without touching her.

As Mistle was about to say something to break the awkward silence, the elevator doors opened with a silent ring and the girls found themselves on the top floor of the building. The noises had gotten much louder now and there was only one door. The party could not be overseen.

Feeling bold upon hearing all these voices and music, Ciri took Mistle’s hand. The other girl didn’t comment on it for now and just let it happen, for which Ciri was thankful.

They entered together and walked through a few cramped rooms in search of the centre of the party, where they suspected Dandelion to be. The huge flat was lit by dimmed lights, people were laughing and dancing everywhere, most of them with colourful drinks in their hands. Some of them were smoking, not necessarily ordinary cigarettes. In the biggest room, which looked more like a discotheque than a living room, they saw an actual DJ pult, which was were all the music was coming from.

They found Dandelion outside on a big terrace. He was standing next to a cocktail bar, surrounded by brightly dressed people of both genders who were listening to him telling an obviously exciting story, at least judging by their facial expressions. Ciri snorted. He was such a poser.

He saw them and waved excitedly. “Ciri!” he called, interrupting his story, “And Ciri’s secret girlfriend! You missed my gig!”

“It was lit!” squealed a random woman who was clearly wasted and clinging to his arm.

The two girls stepped closer. “Thanks for the invite,” Mistle said and seemed to ignore the stuff he had said about her being Ciri’s girlfriend, “A really nice party you are having here.”

Dandelion pointed at the bar. “Get yourself some drinks!” he yelled cheerfully, “I have to get back to my fans here… But I am sure you can have some fun on your own, can’t you?” The people around him giggled.

Ciri nodded and snorted again. She liked Dandelion, but he was overdoing the whole rock-star part. Half of the people here probably didn’t even know who he was.

The bartender handed them two glasses filled with a bright liquid, which was certainly containing alcohol. Ciri took a cautious sip. It tasted sweet and was stronger than anything she had drunk for a long time.

The girls walked back inside. Mistle’s eyes were sparkling and she seemed like she already enjoyed being here. “How can he afford all this?” she wondered aloud and made a sweeping gesture, “This is big for a home party? And believe me I have been to a loooot of parties.”

Ciri shrugged. “I don’t even want to know,” she mumbled and suddenly remembered once again that Geralt had warned her about Mistle and her habits.

Mistle spotted a single, free couch chair and sat down before anyone else could. She patted on her tights. “Sit on my lap?” she asked and gave Ciri an intense look.

With her drink in one hand she looked like a queen sitting on a throne. Ciri sat down hesitatingly. Mistle’s tights felt strong and supporting and Ciri blushed hard as she felt Mistle putting her free hand around her waist.

The short haired girl raised her glass. “Cheers,” she said without taking her eyes from Ciri, “To you, pretty girl, and the fact that I am lucky enough to know you.”

“Cheers.” Ciri replied and had to smile unwillingly.

It didn’t take them long to finish their first drink. A second and a third one followed soon afterwards. At some point Mistle disappeared in search for a restroom.

When she didn’t come back for quite some time, Ciri decided to look for her.

She soon found Mistle in a hallway, a nervous-looking boy arguing with her. “Don’t bullshit me!” Ciri heard him say, “I know that you're selling! I bought stuff from you before, yes?”

Mistle shoved him away.

“I told you,” she hissed at him in an angry tone which was yet unknown to Ciri, “You aren't getting anything from me today!”

“Dude, come on…” he continued whining, “I'm a loyal costumer. I have the cash. Just hand me over some of…”

Mistle saw Ciri approaching and stopped the guy from talking before he could say anything else. “I'm not on duty or whatever,” she said, still with an angry tone, but more quieter than before, “I'm here to enjoy the party and that’s it. Leave me the fuck alone or you won’t get anything from me or my friends in the future.”

The boy walked off after giving Mistle a highly irritated look.

Mistle seemed to wipe away her anger immediately as she greeted Ciri with a smile.

“What was that about?” Ciri asked, highly suspicious, her brows drawn together. Was everything Geralt had said true after all? In this moment it very much seemed like it.

Mistle shook her head. “Ah, that was nothing… Just forget about it,” she stated, and then, immediately changing the topic, “Let’s find us something else to drink! A girl in the bathroom told me that they are serving shots somewhere and they are supposed to taste really awesome.”

At first Ciri didn’t want to leave it at this and for a moment she started to question Mistle’s trustworthiness. But then Mistle smiled at her again and stroked her cheek and took her hand and the attraction Ciri felt towards her grew stronger than the doubt so she nodded.

The girls found the shots and did a few of them. Then they found themselves dancing.

The music didn’t even matter anymore and neither did the crowd around them as their bodies were colliding on the dancefloor. Ciri felt a new high as she found her body pressed against Mistle’s, both of them moving to the same rhythm. She forgot about everything else.

Ciri didn’t want this to end, but eventually both of them were too exhausted and too sweaty to continue dancing. They took another drink.

Suddenly Ciri felt her phone buzz inside her pocket and looked at it. Dandelion had sent her a message.

_SOS. Geralt showed up. He didn’t see you yet, I am keeping him distracted & you should be able to leave without him noticing. You can thank me next time xoxo_

“Shit,” Ciri said and had to laugh. The alcohol made all of this seem very funny. She showed Mistle the text and the taller girl had to laugh as well after reading it.

“Let’s bail then!” she decided and grabbed Ciri’s hand as they made their way out of the flat.

Ciri was feeling dizzy. In a good kind of way. She giggled as Mistle dragged her into the elevator and made a surprised noise as the other girl pressed her against one of its walls as soon as the door had closed behind them.

Mistle stared at her with hungry eyes, eating her up with looks alone.

“Fuck,” she then whispered, “Please let me kiss you right now, or I think I’ll go insane.” She laughed at her own words as if she couldn’t quite believe that she had actually said them, her face flushed and hot from all the drinks they had consumed.

Ciri put one of her hands on the back of Mistle’s head and dragged the other girl’s face closer to her own. “Do it,” she commanded shakily, her breath against Mistle’s lips.

The taller girl followed the demand instantly and pressed their mouths together. Ciri closed her eyes and kissed Mistle back passionately, her hand clawing into Mistle’s short hair. She felt the other girl’s hot tongue sliding over her lower lip.

Ciri didn’t really understand what was happening, only that she enjoyed it way too much. They parted for a moment, looked at each other breathlessly, and kissed again.

Ciri put her hands under Mistle’s top, something she had kind of been wanting to do for the whole evening, and wrapped them around the girl’s waist, smooth skin under her shivering fingers.

“Wanna continue this at my place?” Mistle mumbled against Ciri’s lips, clearly suggesting more than just a sleepover.

Only when Ciri affirmed, which she did after just a tiny moment of hesitation, they realised that neither of them had pressed an elevator button. They were still in the same place and hadn’t even noticed it.

Making their way down they burst out into laughter, drunk from alcohol as well as a strange kind of excitement.

After leaving the apartment complex, they somehow made it into Mistle’s flat, which was tiny and basically just one big room.

Mistle didn’t even turn on the lights, her hands were already too busy unbuttoning Ciri’s shirt.

Ciri let it happen, although suddenly everything was happening very fast. Her shirt landed on the floor and Mistle’s landed next to it just a moment later. She didn’t really know if she still liked the idea of being here. Her mind was foggy.

Mistle gently threw her down onto the big mattress in the middle of the room which apparently served as her bed. She had stopped talking a long time ago and now there were only her hands all over Ciri’s body.

She kissed Ciri again and Ciri felt paralyzed. She loved the taste of the other girls lips, loved to feel Mistle’s half naked body pushing against her own, but she also felt slightly overrun. She was way too drunk and her head was spinning.

Suddenly Mistle stopped and looked down at Ciri, a worried expression on her face. “Hey, is everything alright?” she asked, her eyes dark.

Ciri noticed that she was shivering. “I don’t know…” she said truthfully, her tongue heavy, “I am just very… I don’t really feel that good.”

Mistle smiled at her lovingly. “Hey…” she whispered and gently tugged a strain of hair behind Ciri’s ear, “You have to tell me stuff like this. Look what I am doing. I would have never put you in this position if I had known! Speak up. It’s alright if you don’t want me to… you know… if you changed your mind.”

Ciri slowly shook her head. “That’s not it, I…” she stumbled, “I do like this. But I think it’s happening too fast.”

Mistle got off her and laid down to her side. “Alright,” she said soothingly, “I don’t want to if you don’t.”

She gently wrapped an arm around Ciri’s stomach. “Is it okay if I sleep next to you, though?” she added almost shyly. Ciri made an approving noise.

The other girl fell asleep soon afterwards, but Ciri laid awake. Her heart was beating way too fast, she had a growing headache and didn’t feel very comfortable in this unknown environment and upsetting thoughts crossed her mind whenever she closed her eyes.

Eventually she, too, found sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciri wakes up at Mistle's place. There's a lot that needs to be talked about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your patience with me? I know I am terribly slow at updating but at least this chapter is quite long. I hope you like it!  
> Once again a big thank you to my lovely friend thegrimshapeofyoursmile.

Ciri woke up disoriented, she felt sick and confused. The space next to her was empty.

When she sat up, she heard a loud noises from that corner of the room that served as a kitchen and realised that this was why she had woken up. She moaned in protest.

“Shit, sorry, I dropped half the contents of my cupboard,” she heard a voice say. And there she was, Mistle, the reason why Ciri had gotten into this situation.

The girl wasn’t wearing anything but her underpants and her short hair was a complete mess. She seemed completely comfortable like that though and was carrying two cups in her hands as she made her way back to the bed, or rather the mattress on the floor.

She sat down and held one of the cups towards Ciri. “I, uhm…” she began, “I made coffee. Don’t know if you like that, but I don’t really have anything else.” A sleepy smile appeared on her face.

Ciri’s gaze wandered from Mistle’s face to the steamy beverage in her hand first, then to Mistle’s bare chest. She realized that she herself wasn’t wearing anything more than underpants either, blushed, and wrapped her upper body in a blanked. Only then she took the cup which was being handed to her.

Mistle crooked her head, but said nothing.

Ciri took a cautious sip and grimaced. “It tastes bitter,” she complained sleepily.

Mistle snorted. “Sorry that I can’t meet your standards, princess,” she said mockingly, “I like the way it tastes.” Ciri grimaced again and didn’t feel the need to answer.

They sat in silence and drank their coffee. After a while Ciri didn’t care about the bitter taste anymore, but was thankful for the warmth in her stomach instead. She still felt a bit sick, which was no surprise considering the amount of alcohol she had consumed the day before, but she felt better.

The whole time Mistle had been eyeing her curiously. “Do you want to talk about this, or..?” she finally broke the silence after Ciri had put down her emptied cup.

“Talk about what?” Ciri replied, even though she knew perfectly well what the other girl was talking about.

Mistle raised her eyebrows. “You? In my bed?” she began, “Naked? And pretending that nothing happened?” She looked away for a moment, collecting her thoughts. “I think we should talk about whatever is... or was? Happening between us.”

Ciri decided not to answer to that. “Do you always take advantage of drunk girls?” she asked instead, a stubborn tone in her voice.

Mistle laughed. “Woah! Slow down!” she said, an offended expression appearing on her face, “I didn’t take advantage of you… You wanted this as much as I did. And as soon as you didn’t want to anymore I stopped, you didn’t even have to say anything. Of course I could have taken advantage of you… as you put it… but did I? Did I? No.” She looked truly hurt for a moment, but soon managed to hide her feelings behind a quick smile.

“I like you too damn much for that, okay?” she then added, “I like you a lot and I don’t want to lose you. By now you are more to me than just a quick flirt or an easy fuck or whatever… And that is why I would like to know what exactly I am to you, you know?”

Ciri felt her heart beating faster. Mistle was awfully cute. And she was so beautiful too sitting here in front of her, almost naked. Ciri couldn’t hide her attraction towards the other girl and she would have loved to give her the answer she wanted to hear, but there was still something nagging on her mind.

“Mistle…” she started, not looking into her eyes, “Are you a drug dealer?”

Mistle was silent for a moment. Then she got up, collected the cups and brought them back to the kitchen. “Apparently some of the accusations you throw at me today are truer than others,” she said instead of an answer. Ciri took that as a yes.

The short-haired girl stood at the kitchen counter, her bare back towards Ciri. “Not everyone is as lucky as you are, you know?” she said silently, a bitter undertone in her voice, “I gotta make a living for myself somehow and why should I spend every hour of my day working under unfair conditions when there is another way to keep myself from drowning?”

When she turned around, there was a sharp smile on her face again. Ciri wondered silently if there was anything in Mistle’s life she took seriously.

“Are you calling the cops now?” the other girl asked jokingly while she opened a wardrobe and put on a random, brightly coloured shirt. Ciri noticed, that compared to anything else in here, the clothes inside the wardrobe looked the most expensive by far.

“I don’t mind,” Ciri heard herself say and realized that it was true, “I don’t mind that you are a criminal.”

Mistle turned around and dropped the pants she had been about to put on. “You sure?” she asked while coming closer. Ciri nodded.

“You just… you should have told me,” she stated with a pouty face.

Mistle laughed. “You are one strange girl…” she replied and sat down again next to Ciri, who was still sitting on the matress, covered in her blanket. “I’m glad that I found you.”

For a moment she just looked at Ciri. Suddenly she almost seemed a bit shy, bashfully running her hand through her short hair. Ciri noticed that her gaze kept wandering to her lips.

“You know,” Ciri broke the silence, more surprised than anyone else by taking heart like this, “I’m not used to saying stuff like that, but… I like you a lot, too. And I like hanging out with you. I even get excited when you do something as simple as writing me a text. And then yesterday… Kissing you? It was so nice…. and I realized that you are really more than just a friend or an acquaintance to me.” Ciri blushed. It had been hard to say the words, but seeing how Mistle’s face lit up with joy, she was glad that she had done it.

Mistle placed her hand on the other girl’s jaw and gently stroke Ciri’s cheek with her thumb. “Yeah… I feel that way, too,” she mumbled, “Does this mean we are a thing now? Like… do you want to, uhm… be my girlfriend or something?”

As Ciri, out of surprise, didn’t reply at first, Mistle added, “I mean we don’t have to put a label on this. I just want to know where we are standing… We barely know each other at this point, so it’s probably far too early to commit to anything, but… Fuck. I don’t know how things like that work. But I really want to. Make things work with you, I mean.”

Ciri had to smile. It made her strangely happy to see that Mistle seemed to care so much about this that she couldn’t even put it into words.

“Don’t worry,” she stated, “It’s fine. We can just continue hanging out together and… things like that.”

Mistle placed a small kiss on her lips. “Things like that?” she asked wickedly.

Ciri nodded, blushing again.

“I should get going for now, though…” she then said after a moment, “I should go home and sober up, I should really take a shower and I should…” She sighed and tried to somehow tame the mess that was her hair. “I should really go and talk to Geralt. I have to make him understand what you mean to me.”

Saying it out loud, Ciri realized that she indeed felt really bad about her fight with Geralt. He had always been there for her and he had never hesitated to put her first. She knew that if she needed anything he would be there to help before she could even ask. Avoiding him felt wrong. He didn't deserve that kind of behavior.

Mistle nodded in understanding. “That's probably a good idea. The two of you seem to have quite the connection. I really don’t want to be the one to come between that.” She yawned. “You can use my shower, though. If I look hard enough I should find a spare towel somewhere and you can borrow some of my clothes,” she then continued, “That would save you the way home.”

Ciri looked at her, considering the offer.

“Don’t worry, I won’t peep,” Mistle added jokingly, “My bathroom actually has a lockable door.” She pointed at a door Ciri hadn’t noticed until then.

Ciri giggled. “Fine,” she said, “I will leave it open, though… so that you can bring me the clothes and the towel.”

She stood up, suddenly not really caring about her nakedness anymore, searched the pile of clothes on the floor for her own bra, picked it up and wandered into the tiny bathroom.

It took her some time to figure out how Mistle’s shower worked, but once she had managed to turn it on she was more than glad about the warm water running down her back.

When she got out of the shower again, smelling of Mistle’s soap, she found a fresh towel, a shiny, emerald-colored shirt and black skinny jeans on the floor next to the door. She hadn’t noticed Mistle putting it there, but the other girl had kept her word. Ciri dressed herself. The pants were a bit too long for her legs, but she just rolled up the hems.

Mistle waited for her in the other room, also fully dressed by now.

“I knew the shirt would suit your pretty eyes,” she greeted her. She stepped closer and handed Ciri a pair of flashy earrings. “These will look good on you too…” she stated. Then she took a bright red lipstick and cautiously applied it on Ciri’s lips, which Ciri let happen without any resistance.

She put the jewellery on as well and walked towards the big mirror which was standing in a corner. Despite her tired face she looked nice. She looked as thrilling as Mistle always did and she liked it.

“Thanks,” she said and turned around to Mistle again.

The taller girl grinned. “Looking good. Even better than you normally do,” she purred and drew Ciri into a tight good-bye hug. “I’ll message you. Now go and make things right with this grumpy, pub- owning father figure of yours. And here… have some candy for the way.” She handed her a lollipop.

Ciri left with a fuzzy feeling in her chest and a huge grin on her face, which stayed there until she remembered that she had to sort things out with Geralt now.

…………

When Ciri entered the pub she was greeted by the scent of lilac and gooseberries.

Before she could even look for Geralt, Yennefer waved at her. She was sitting at a table in the corner, beautiful as always. “Come here and sit down, my dear,” she said and Ciri obeyed. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Geralt on the other end of the room, he looked exhausted and seemed to ignore her. Dandelion was nowhere to be seen, probably sleeping off his hangover in a random person’s arms.

“You have dressed up,” Yen greeted her with a faint smile on her perfect face, “It’s nice to see that you care for your looks once in a while, even though these earrings look rather cheap on you.” She took Ciri’s lollipop out of her mouth and put it into the ashtray in front of her. “Too much sugar is bad for your health, my child,” she explained her action.

Ciri shrugged resignedly, the sweet taste still in her mouth.

Yennefer sighed. “I hoped that you would show up today...” she began, “See, I am worried about you. Geralt asked me to talk to you, and he wouldn’t have done that without a good reason. It’s about this girl you are seeing.”

Ciri rolled her eyes. “He already told me that I should stop meeting her. What’s the use of sending you to repeat it to me once again?” she complained, “That won’t change my mind either, sorry.”

“You are that serious about her then?” Yennefer asked, gently placing a hand on Ciri’s shoulder.

Ciri blushed hard. “I am,” she said, a determined look on her face, “I like her a lot, I… I think I am in love with her.”

Yennefer smiled. “I’m glad that you still believe in a silly thing like love…” she said, “If you are sure that whatever you and your girl have together is genuine I won’t be standing in your way. I know better than anyone else that you can’t choose who you fall in love with.” She took a side glance at Geralt.

“He is a man, what does he know about the feelings of a woman…” she added, “He just doesn’t want you to get in trouble… and neither do I, just to make things clear. But I believe that you can evaluate the situation on your own.” She reached out to pet Ciri’s cheek.

Ciri got up. “Thank you,” she mumbled, “I know… I’ll try to talk to him once again.” She made her way towards the counter.

Geralt watched her come closer, looked at her severely and didn’t say anything. Ciri stopped in front of him and crossed her arms.

“I won’t stop seeing Mistle,” she stated, not an inch of doubt in her voice, “I know that she is bad news. But I don’t care. She likes me, and I like her. And we will see each other whenever we chose to.”

A tired smile appeared on his face. “I was afraid that you would say that…” he muttered, “When I noticed how your eyes lit up whenever you talked about her… deep down I knew that I wouldn’t be able stop you. Just promise me that you’ll stay out of whatever trouble she’s in, okay?” He sighed deeply.

Ciri nodded with teary eyes, a huge weight having been lifted off her shoulders. Geralt made his way around the counter. “Come here…” he said and dragged her into a big hug.

“Swear that you’ll tell me if anything bad happens…” he grumbled while petting her head, “And if this girl hurts you in any way it will be the last thing she does, remember that.”

Ciri hugged him back, he smelled so familiar and she felt safe in his arms. “Alright,” she whispered, giving in.

They parted again. “And now you should probably get going before I change my mind and keep you locked in here…” he sighed.

“Good bye then,” Ciri said and smiled, “I’m glad that we talked.”

He nodded, already making his way behind the counter again. Ciri waved at Yennefer, who had listened to the exchange contently, and left the pub, already texting Mistle a summary of what had happened.

 _feel like comin over once again now? :P_ Her reply came instantly. Ciri send her a quick, _omw!!!_

…………

Mistle opened the door with a wicked grin on her face. “Nice to see you again so soon,” she said, dragged Ciri inside and kissed her passionately as soon as the door closed behind them.

Ciri made a content noise. “Yes,” she simply replied and kissed Mistle one more time. It was just good being able to do that.

After their lips parted, Mistle didn’t let go of her yet.

"I forgot to tell you but I think I accidentally left something in the pocket of the pants you are wearing..." she said casually and without further warning slipped her hand into Ciri's back pocket.

"There it is!" she called and pulled a tiny, clear plastic bag out of it, filled with a white, powdery substance. She seemed rather happy to hold it in her hands. 

Ciri frowned. She didn't need to be very clever to figure out what this was. 

Mistle went silent and looked at Ciri, clearly thinking about something. She slipped her hand back into Ciri's pocket, this time with the sole purpose to gently grab her butt. 

"Want me to show you how to use this?" she eventually said, holding up the drug in her hand, "It's gonna be fun." 

Ciri looked at the white powder and then back at Mistle, Mistle who was so nice and pretty and stunning and whose touches she enjoyed so much. Mistle who seemed like she knew exactly what she was doing. Ciri realized that she was comfortable in her company and that she had started to really trust Mistle. One time surely wouldn't hurt. 

"Sure," she answered, copying the other girls wicked smile and forgetting about every promise she had ever made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...forgive me. Anyways.  
>  Don't do drugs, kids!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciri spends a day at Mistle's place and inevitable things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am apologizing for this chapter. But I also hope that you like it. A huge thank you goes to thegrimshapeofyoursmile (as always) and also to all of you still putting up with this. Comments are very much apreciated (also as always).
> 
> Parts of this chapter are nsfw, just a heads up. (Please don't hate me.)

Ciri woke out of a dreamless haze. She didn’t feel good at all. For a moment she couldn’t remember what had happened. 

There was faint music playing. Her head was resting on someone else’s lap. Mistle. 

The other girl was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. She was smoking, her eyes closed. She hadn’t noticed that Ciri was awake yet but her hands were tangled into Ciri’s hair, slowly massaging her scalp. 

“Is it normal to feel this awful after it wears off?” Ciri asked after a while.

One corner of Mistle’s mouth twitched, but she didn’t open her eyes. “Shhh…” she only hushed and took another drag from her cigarette.

Ciri remembered feeling ecstatic and wonderful and brand new, and now there was nothing left of it. She wanted it back.

“Can we take some more of it? Like… just a tiny bit?” she heard herself ask.

Mistle opened her eyes, finally looking at her. 

“Not a good idea, babe,” she replied and handed her cigarette to Ciri, “There’s a fine line between having a fun time and getting lost in it… and I won’t let you cross it.” 

Ciri slowly sat up and took a deep drag just to blow some smoke into Mistle’s face before handing the cigarette back to her. Mistle laughed huskily. Ciri noticed that neither of them was wearing pants.

She remembered making out with the other girl, very eagerly wanting to take it to the next step, and Mistle stopping her from going any further. 

Ciri couldn’t keep herself from staring at Mistle’s inner thigh. She had a tattoo there, a rose. Ciri thoughtlessly traced it with her fingertip.

“And there it is again, your hand between my legs,” Mistle commented on it, a suggestive tone in her voice.

Ciri stopped her hand from moving and looked into Mistle’s eyes. The other girl took a final drag of her cigarette and put it out.

“Earlier…” Ciri began, referring to the drug fuelled condition they had shared, “Why didn’t you want to sleep with me? I thought you would want it just as bad as I did back then.” She blushed slightly.

Mistle shook her head. “Wasn’t sure if you only wanted to because you were high…” she explained, “I really wanted you to have a clear head when sleeping with me for the first time. Didn’t want it to end like last time, after the party, you know?”

“I see…” Ciri answered and smiled. She stole a quick kiss from the girl sitting next to her. Her mouth tasted like the cigarette they had shared.

“How is your head right now?” Mistle asked after a moment, a wicked spark in her eyes. Ciri looked at her confusedly. 

“Is your head clear?” Mistle put it differently and only now Ciri understood what Mistle was actually asking.

“Clear enough,” Ciri decided and climbed onto Mistle’s lap.

“In that case I think I know a way to distract you from feeling awful,” Mistle whispered and licked her lips. She grabbed Ciri’s hips with both hands and kissed her without any restraint. 

Ciri got rid of her shirt. As she also wanted to free Mistle of her blouse, she noticed that her hands were trembling, while she tried to open the buttons. When Mistle realized that the other girl was struggling she took her hands into her own and kissed her again. “No need to be nervous,” she whispered into Ciri’s ear, “It’s just me.” Then she opened her blouse herself and carelessly dropped it onto the floor. Underneath it she was naked.

She opened Ciri’s bra with skilled fingers, kissing her the whole time through.

“Shouldn’t we continue this in bed?” Ciri asked breathlessly between the kisses.

Mistle laughed. “As you wish,” she said wickedly, “I can fuck you in any place you want.” Ciri drew her breath in sharply as Mistle slightly bit into her lower lip.

They tumbled towards the mattress, landed on it, limbs tangled together. As they kissed again Ciri felt herself getting really turned on, Mistle’s hands holding her down, their bodies skin on skin.

As Mistle shoved her thigh between Ciri’s legs, Ciri couldn’t hold back a moan. 

Mistle giggled. “So are you really sure you want this?” she asked teasingly, she herself a bit breathless.

“Yes!” Ciri pressed between her teeth, desire making her impatient, “Fuck me already…”

She didn’t have to say that twice. Mistle followed her demand gladly, eager to please the girl beneath her.

Ciri made a content noise as the other girl freed her of her panties and slipped her fingers between her legs.

“Just relax…” Mistle whispered and suddenly it was not even hard for Ciri to do that, considering how comfortable she felt under the other girl’s touches. Mistle’s skin was hot, and so was her own as they kissed again. Soon Ciri could feel Mistle’s slender fingers inside her and her breath went heavy. She felt the pressure building and building until she was trembling all over and couldn’t hold back anymore.

She reached her climax with Mistle’s name on her lips. 

Mistle grinned. She leaned back and licked her fingers clean. “Did you like it?” she asked, a wicked tone in her voice.

Ciri still felt breathless, her cheeks were red and burning with heat. She had liked it more than she would ever care to admit. Instead of an answer she pushed Mistle back onto the mattress. “It’s your turn now,” she mumbled while looking down on her. 

The other girl giggled as Ciri’s hands started wandering down her stomach. 

……………

“This is the fifth time your phone is ringing today, don’t you want to call back?” Ciri asked a little later. They were still in bed.

Mistle was playing with Ciri’s hair. “Nah, it’s not important,” she said, her voice sounding rather distant all of a sudden, harsh even.

“Don’t you want to know who it is that’s calling you?” Ciri asked again. She was staring at the ceiling, watching the lights wander across the wall.

“I know exactly who this is…” Mistle said grumpily and by now it was obvious that she didn’t want to talk about it, “But I am spending time with you now, they can fuck off.”

Even though Ciri wanted to let it go, she wondered if Mistle was keeping something from her again. “They?” she echoed, and sat up, to look into the other girl’s eyes, “Is it someone from… work? Are you in trouble?”

Mistle sighed. “Look,” she said, “Don’t worry about it, okay? Why don’t you kiss me again? With tongue.”

Ciri considered further arguing, but then she smiled tiredly and obeyed. 

As someone persistently knocked on the door a few moments later she stayed quiet, just like Mistle told her to. 

They spent the rest of the day doing a little bit of nothing. Ciri still had a bad feeling, but she ignored it, hid it away behind lazy kisses and laughter. 

At one point they decided out of necessity that it would be better for Ciri to go home. Ciri put on her borrowed clothes again and Mistle showed her to the door. 

“I already miss you,” the short-haired girl whispered, as they kissed good-bye. “I won’t stay gone for long,” Ciri replied, blushing once again.

……..

Ciri was alone, walking through the night. A few blocks away from Mistle’s place she noticed that she was being followed. At first she thought she was only imagining it, but after cutting some corners the feeling was still there. 

They caught up with her in an empty alley, cornering her. 

“What do you want?” she blurted out, slowly backing away until her back met a wall. There were five of them, she wasn’t sure if they were girls or boys, their faces where hidden under dark hoodies. One had a knife, casually playing around with it. “Stay the fuck away from me!”

“Don’t worry, it’s not you we’re after… Don’t take this personal,” the tallest of them said and took a step forward, it was a boy according to the voice. “Are we sure we aren’t mistaken?” he added, taking a look at his companions.

“She wears her goddamn clothes,” the one with the knife, a girl apparently, hissed, “Which means she is at least somewhat important to her.”

Ciri swallowed. This was about Mistle. “Leave me alone!” she growled, her stance widening, her hands forming into fists. 

The boy took another step towards her. “Listen carefully, I’m gonna tell you how this works. You’re gonna come with us, do what we tell you to and you won’t get hurt. This can be very civilized. Be a good girl and we’ll let you go once Mistle gives us back the money she owes us.” He reached out to grab her.

“I don’t know what you are talking about!” Ciri tried to talk herself out of the situation, “I have nothing to do with this, leave me alone!”

The girl with the knife laughed evilly. “You have now. Decided to get involved with the wrong girl, your own fault,” she spitted out, “This bitch was supposed to sell the drugs not consume them herself. She owes us. She says she isn’t afraid of us, thinks she can play us, but we are done with her games.” She stepped closer as well.

“We’ve been waiting for a chance to get back at her, no matter what we threatened her with or how hard we hit her, she never listened, only laughed at us,” yet another of them stated in a perversely sweet tone, “But looks like this cunt finally found something other than herself she cares about... and now we’re here to take it away from her.”

The five of them giggled proudly. Ciri saw her chance and tried to run. 

The boy in front of her grabbed her. “Don’t even try that,” he said and shook his head, “There are five of us. And poor you is… all alone… aww.” 

Ciri felt rage running through her blood. She hit him in the face and let out an angry scream. 

This caught him off guard, but as he let go off her, howling in pain, the others were already there, attacking her from all sides like a pack of rabid animals.

Ciri, trying to think of all the self-defence tricks Geralt had taught her over the years, managed to disarm the girl with the knife and knock out another one of them. Kicking around, using her elbows and knees she was determined not to make an easy target. 

There was one punch that she wasn’t able to block. It hit her out of nowhere and the whole world turned black as she fell unconscious.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mistle is a mess but tries her best to help Ciri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you still know what happened in the last chapter, this took me way too much time (once again). I really am terribly sorry. Thank you so much for still reading this even though I just can't manage to update regularly. I hope the story is worth waiting for... There's going to be one more chapter most likely. If you have anything to say, please let me know.
> 
> A BIG thank you to thegrimshapeofyoursmile for helping me with this (as always).

There was almost nothing left of it. Mistle sighed deeply as she realized that. But there was enough for one last high, which was exactly what she craved. There would be enough time to worry about the rest later.

It had cost her all her self-restraint to wait until Ciri had left before getting another fix. Sweet Ciri. She really didn’t need to know everything about Mistle’s fucked up situation and her unhealthy habits.

“Addiction is a more fitting word, probably,” Mistle thought as she dropped down on her bed, her eyes half closed, already feeling the sweet sensation she had been urging for rolling over her.

She smiled as she thought of the clumsy way Ciri had made love to her only hours ago. Being with her almost felt as good as this. Maybe even better? The look in her green eyes gave Mistle a different kind of high. In a way she had become addicted to the taste of her lips and the smell of her skin and the touch of her hands and… Mistle closed her eyes. Ciri would hate to be compared to a drug. But the truth was that these two were the only things on Mistle’s mind. Ciri. Drugs. Ciri again.

She wanted to spend every single second of her day with this girl. But at the same time she didn’t want to drag her down. Didn’t want to do anything to hurt her, didn’t want any harm to be done to her. Wanted to keep her safe. Wanted to keep her away from Mistle’s Fucked Up Life. Even if it was probably too late for that.

Mistle was weak, she knew that, she was bad news through and through. Ciri would deserve so much better, would deserve someone who had their life under control. But Mistle couldn’t help wanting her all for herself. She would never be able let her go, just as she was not able to quit doing drugs.

Colourful clouds swallowed her mind and she was drifting away, still smiling. Ciri had caused her to see the world in new colours, had brightened her horizon, but so had the substances running through her blood.

………

 

When Mistle opened her eyes, her mouth felt terribly dry. She somehow made her way to the sink and drank water directly from the pipe, not caring about the fact that strains of her fair hair got wet in the process.

She didn’t know how late it was. Maybe early morning. Probably noon. She didn’t care about it anyways, had no place to be, no responsibilities to fulfil.

The sight of Ciri’s naked body crossed her mind, the other girl calling her name in ecstasy, her face all flushed. Mistle smiled. The image made her forget the terrible state her body was in for a moment, made her forget how tired she was.

She should text Ciri. She didn’t even care about the fact that she would come off as clingy, not anymore, always being the one to text her that they should meet. She shouldn’t ask her to skip school again, even though she just couldn’t stand waiting for her until she was done with her lessons. But maybe she could pick her up when it was over, could hang out with her or maybe even kiss those lips again.

It took Mistle a few minutes to find her phone. She had turned it off and had hidden it under a pile of clothes because it had just not wanted to quit ringing.

When she looked at it a bad feeling overcame her. She had eleven missed calls from Ciri. And two texts.

Had something happened? Ciri never called her just like that, normally they were just texting.

Mistle opened the text with a frown on her tired face.

_we found something pretty that belongs to u. if u want her back - > pay ur debs. find us at the usual place. signed: u know who we r_

There was a blurry picture of Ciri attached. Was she sleeping or unconscious? Mistle’s eyes widened in shock. This couldn’t be real. But Ciri wouldn’t joke about something like this. Was this the consequence of Mistle’s actions finally catching up with her? With shivering fingers she opened the second text which was from a few hours ago.

_days in which we were patient r over. do u think u’d still like the girl with a scar in her face? if not there might be a problm now. that bitch of yours is misbehaving, we had to show her. If u don’t show up soon it mihgt get worse. BRING THE CASH. SUNDOWN._

Mistle dropped her phone, for her hands were trembling too hard. Her mind went blank as she rushed around, searching for something to help the situation. She knocked over a glass full of coins in hope to find something more than change, but of course there wasn’t anything valuable in there.

Didn’t she have a gun somewhere? She hectically opened drawers and threw their contents to the floor. The fact that the drugs she had taken had left their traces didn’t help. When her room had turned into a complete mess she collapsed on the floor.

They had Ciri. Who knew what they had done to her. Mistle couldn’t bear the thought.

She buried her head in her hands. What was she supposed to do? There was no time… She couldn’t call the police and even if she wanted to there was no way in which she could show up there on her own to fight the people who used to be her friends, they were just too many. And it was impossible to get hold of that much money in such a short time.

But she had to do something. She loved Ciri way too much to just sit around and feel sorry for herself. She had to do something, even if it meant putting herself in danger… she needed to go, she needed to…

She jumped up, carelessly throwing clothes on, slipping into her boots, and her gaze wandered towards the mattress on the floor. Ciri.

Mistle noticed that tears were running down her face.

As she was running towards the door, she thought that Geralt would kill her if he knew about what had happened.

Then she stopped. Of course. The one person who would do anything to save Ciri was probably him. Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier?

Mistle started running again, this time with a clear goal in mind.

……………

 

When Mistle entered the pub she was drenched in sweat. She had ran most of the way and was breathing heavily as she made her way to the bar.

One table was occupied, the darkly-clothed woman sitting at it eyed Mistle curiously, but Mistle stormed past her, ignoring her completely.

Dandelion, occupying his usual space at the bar, jumped to his feet as soon as he saw her. He shook his head manically, pointed at the door behind him and whispered urgently, “I don’t think he wants to see you here! You should better leave before…”

Mistle ignored him too. “Geralt!” she called, by which she earned a shocked look from the brightly dressed singer next to her. The woman at the table stood up, as if getting ready for trouble. None of this mattered to Mistle.

The white haired pub owner entered the pub without hurry, the look on his face slightly annoyed. Only when he recognized Mistle his expression changed to something between bewilderment and anger.

“What are _you_ doing here?” he asked in a severe tone. Then he apparently forced himself to sound a little bit less hostile by calmly adding, “Ciri isn’t here.”

Mistle nodded, then shook her head. Suddenly she couldn’t speak, only now really understanding what had happened and the guilt she felt about it crashing over her. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

Geralt took a few steps towards her. “What kind of drugs are you on? And why would you…” He stopped mid-sentence and stared at her. “Wait,” he continued, anger rising in his voice, “Something’s wrong… What happened, what did you do to Ciri?”

Mistle started sobbing. “They took her,” was all she managed to say.

In the blink of an eye Geralt was right in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Who?” he growled, “Where?” But Mistle only sobbed harder. She knew that all of this was her fault. She had ruined everything and the man in front of her would most likely kill her for it.

Suddenly the darkly-dressed woman from before was next to them and put her hand on Geralt’s arm. “Stop it. You’re scaring the girl,” she said. Her voice was calm, but when she turned towards Mistle, Mistle noticed from the look in her eyes that she was furious as well, only better at containing her emotions. “What happened?” the woman wanted to know.

Mistle took a deep breath. “There are these friends of mine… or rather… they used to be my friends, I thought they were, anyways,” Mistle stumbled, trying to calm down, “I owe them some money… more than a little bit actually, they… they’ve been threatening me, but I guess I never took them seriously and now. Now they…”

“They kidnapped Ciri,” the woman finished what Mistle was trying to say. Mistle nodded mutely.

“Where did they take her?” Geralt asked, now trying to hide his boiling emotions, his big hands clenched to fists.

“An old hideout of ours…” Mistle continued in a subdued voice, “I can take you there… if… if you are willing to help.”

Geralt looked into her eyes and nodded grimly. “I won’t leave Ciri in danger. Are you coming too, Yen?”

The woman next to Mistle didn’t hesitate. “I’m driving,” she simply said and walked towards the door.

A wide-eyed Dandelion interfered. “If Ciri is in distress, I’m coming along!” he stated, sounding slightly panicked and scared.

Geralt took a short glance at him and sighed. “Someone has to look after the pub while I’m gone,” he urged.

“Well in that case I’ll stay,” Dandelion replied without a single moment of hesitation, visibly relieved, “Someone must.”

As Geralt already made his way towards the door, dragging Mistle with him, Dandelion called after them, “Make sure to tell Ciri that I would of course have come along to save her if it only had been possible!”

But nobody had time for his pseudo heroism. They rushed out of the pub and got into a car. As soon as the doors had closed, the woman Geralt had called Yen was already driving. Mistle gave her directions from the back. Geralt clung to the handle next to his seat.

“I know you hate the way I drive, but we are faster this way, so shut up,” Yen told him just before she crossed a street at a red light and took a turn way too fast, the tires screeching.

…………………

 

The car stopped in front of a rundown building which was part of an abandoned railroad yard. “That’s the place,” Mistle whispered. Her hands were shaking.

Yen got out of the car. Without a warning Geralt suddenly took a gun out of the glove compartment. But then he hesitated and turned towards Mistle. “Those guys we’re dealing with are all kids like you, aren’t they?”

Mistle swallowed hard and nodded slowly.

Geralt sighed and put the gun back to where it had come from. He opened the door and joined Yen, who had stripped out of the expensive looking coat she had been wearing and had rolled up her sleeves.

As Mistle was about to step out of the car as well, Geralt shook his head. “No,” he said, “You stay here. Look at yourself, you are in no place to fight.” Then he followed the woman who had already started to make her way into the building.

Mistle climbed back onto the backseat. She was shivering all over, she was scared and embarrassed. She was just a burden to everyone, couldn’t even fix the mess she herself had created. She wanted nothing more but for Ciri to be safe.

With every minute that passed, waiting grew more unbearable. Out of habit Mistle searched her pockets for the substance that she craved, for something to ease her mind, but she didn’t even have a single cigarette on her.

She curled up, her cheek resting on the car window, her gaze fixed at the entrance through which Geralt and Yen had disappeared.

She loved Ciri so much that it hurt. And that was why she would have to leave her.

She had to break ties with this girl, she could never let something like this happen again. Mistle would disappear out of Ciri’s life, but first she would have to make sure that she was okay. Tears started running down Mistle’s pale face as she got out of the car and sneaked into the abandoned building.

……………

 

To her surprise it didn’t take her long to find Ciri. She was sitting on a crate in an upstairs hall and seemed quite alright. Geralt and Yen were standing next to her. Mistle hid behind the doorframe, watching them. The fight seemed to be over, there was no sight of anyone else. Had Mistle’s former companions run away? Most likely.

But there had been a fight, that was for sure. Geralt’s shirt was torn, a fresh bruise was forming on his cheek and Yen’s nose was bleeding. Neither of them seemed to care, they only had eyes for Ciri. Yen was cradling her face in her hand and one of Geralt’s hands rested on her shoulder.

As far as Mistle could see Ciri’s knuckles were bruised. There was quite a bit dried blood on her left cheek, and she seemed to have an ugly bruise on her forehead. But other than that she looked… fine. She was even smiling at the two in front of her. Mistle could finally breathe again.

The group of three hadn’t noticed her yet. They were engrossed in conversation and standing together like this they looked just like the warm and loving family Mistle had never had. It seemed like they had already forgotten about her.

She decided that now was a good time to bail. She wouldn’t know how to explain herself anyways, wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to Ciri while having to look into those big, green eyes. Better to just leave without an explanation and spare Ciri the trouble of dealing with her for any longer. 

Mistle would have loved to kiss her one last time. But she turned around and walked away, trying not to make herself noticed.

She had only managed to take a few steps as she suddenly heard Ciri calling out her name.

She had seen her. Shit. Mistle walked on, her hands forming into fists. She heard that Ciri came running after her.

“Wait!” the ashen haired girl shouted while approaching, an angry tone in her voice, “Where are you going?”

When Ciri had reached her, she grabbed Mistle’s wrist hard, with no intention of letting go again that easily. “What is wrong? Why are you trying to sneak away?” she asked, sounding honestly worried even though she was the one everyone had been worried about.

“Look at me!” she added demandingly when Mistle wasn’t answering, but Mistle continued to look away. The other girl stepped in front of her, still holding onto her wrist, and reached out with her other hand to gently but firmly put it on Mistle’s shoulder.

“Mistle, we need to talk,” she whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And this is how the story ends...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it, this is the last chapter. I honestly don't know if it meets your expectations, but I hope it was worth the wait (I'M SO SORRY).  
> A big thank you to thegrimshapeofyoursmile for helping me with this. A big thank you to everyone who waited this patiently for me to post my chapters. A big thank you for all the lovely comments I got, I appreciate every single one. I had a lot of fun writing this AU, and I'm glad for the positive feedback I got.  
> Feel free to tell me your thoughts on this last chapter. (Keep in mind... I still have absolutely no idea how drugs work...) I hope you enjoy!

Ciri didn’t understand why Mistle didn’t look her in the eyes. “Why were you sneaking away?” she repeated the question she had asked just a moment ago. She stepped even closer, her hand still on Mistle’s shoulder.

The other girl stepped back, away from her. Ciri started to feel really bad about this situation. “Answer me,” she demanded.

Mistle’s reply was very silent, but Ciri could still hear it. And she wished she hadn’t. “Because this has to end. I’m leaving you.”

After she had processed what that meant Ciri drew back her hands, which had still been outstretched. She felt anger growing inside her. “I am the one who got kidnapped because of the mess you are in and _you_ are the one who wants to break up?” she spat out, barely being able to contain the anger in her voice. She could still feel the rope tied around her wrists, still remembered the pain of a knife slashing her cheek. She could use a hug, not whatever bullshit argument this was.

The expression appearing on Mistle’s face made her look even more awful than she had before. The short-haired girl seemed devastated and the dark circles under her eyes, her much too pale face and bluish lips made it seem like she hadn’t slept in days. She was shivering on top of that. The Mistle Ciri knew, the flamboyant young woman with a sharp grin, sparkling eyes and a quick line on her lips, was nowhere to be seen. Ciri took a deep breath and tried to swallow down her anger.

“There is more to this, isn’t it?” she asked, a concerned line appearing between her eyebrows, “Tell me. Don’t run away from it.”

Instead of waiting for an answer she dragged Mistle into another hallway, Geralt and Yennefer had already started to watch them in concern and Ciri really didn’t need them to interfere right now. She gently pushed Mistle down onto a crate and sat down next to her, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

It took a long moment before Mistle started to speak, her gaze still avoiding Ciri’s.

“We need to end this because I’m not good for you,” she said hoarsely, her shaking fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, “I never wanted to drag you down into my misery and still it happened. If this continues, if… if I continue to be part of your life I’m going to ruin it. And I want you to have a good life. I don’t want you to end up like me.”

Ciri shook her head in disbelief. “That’s not true!” she called out, “I’ve never… I’ve never felt as happy as I am with you by my side. How can my life be good without you?”

A pained smile carved itself into Mistle’s face. “You don’t understand,” she stated in a frustrated tone.

“I do understand where you’re coming from with this, don’t get me wrong,” Ciri replied, “But I don’t care! I don’t care what kind of mess you are in, I don’t care about the fact that it affects me as well. I just want you be with you! I want you to tell me what’s going on so that I can help you with it.”

Mistle closed her eyes and swallowed. When she opened them again she took a short glance at Ciri’s face, and at the ugly marks the events had left there. “I’m not to be helped,” she whispered, “I’m fucked up and… I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again. That’s why I’m breaking up with you, that’s why I won’t see you again, because ultimately I’m the one who is going to hurt you the most if I stay.”

Ciri felt tears filling her eyes. “Bullshit!” she answered, her voice about to break, “And you think losing you won’t hurt me, huh?”

“You’ll get over me,” Mistle stated grimly, blinking repeatedly as if she was fighting back tears as well.

Ciri took a deep breath. She wouldn’t cry like a little girl now. There was one thing left to ask. “Do you care for me or was everything we shared nothing but an act? If you don’t feel anything for me… alright, leave me and I will fix my broken heart on my own.” She paused to unwind her arms and to take Mistle’s cold hands into her own. “But if you do care for me even the slightest bit, if what we had was real, I won’t let you go.”

She saw a single tear glinting on Mistle’s face. “What I feel or not doesn’t matter,” the other girl said, “I’m…”

Mistle paused and then finally looked up to meet Ciri’s eyes. “I haven’t told you the truth about me…” she made a last attempt to explain, “I’m not only a drug dealer… I’m an addict. I dropped out of school when I was about your age… and since then I’ve just… I’ve been egoistic all my life, only ever chasing after the things I wanted, not caring about the rest. Everything I own was pretty much stolen, everything I cared about is getting high, I pissed off the wrong people and I’m caught in this too deep. I’m not only useless and a criminal, I’m the worst kind of person… and... I can’t get out of this.” A silent sob left her throat.

She held on to Ciri’s hands.

“I can’t get out of this on my own,” she finally added, giving up, “I don’t want to lose you, but…”

Ciri didn’t really know what to do and was overwhelmed by too many emotions flowing through her at once. She heard herself making a soothing noise, heard herself saying empty phrases like, “We can figure this out. I will help you. I won’t let you go. It’s going to be alright.” She dragged Mistle closer, placed a kiss on her forehead and embraced her as the other girl started to weep.

“It’s going to be alright,” Ciri repeated, for her own sake as well, her fingers tangling into Mistle’s short hair, “I’m here for you. And you won’t leave me.”

..............................................

The next days were hard.

After everything had been explained, Geralt turned out to be a big help. Ciri never asked about details, about why he knew so much about drugs and about going through withdrawal. She was just glad that he was there to help her help Mistle. Because Mistle did need help. The situation was even worse than Ciri had imagined, she had never guessed that Mistle was in this deep, that not taking drugs would turn her into the shivering, sleepless mess she had become.

Things were ugly. But Ciri would not give up on Mistle, and she would not let Mistle give up on herself either.

It was obvious that Mistle was having a hard time, but the whole situation put a lot of weight onto Ciri’s shoulders too. She couldn’t concentrate at school and the little time she spent at the pub was not giving her any peace, even though Geralt would offer her rare words of honest consolation, Dandelion would shut up for once and Yennefer would comb through Ciri’s hair with her fingers.

Ciri wanted to spend every minute with Mistle, but seeing her suffer wasn’t easy either. In some moments it felt like the girl she loved was gone. Still Ciri knew that she was not the one to pity. She tried to be what Mistle needed, and when Mistle needed space, she tried to leave her in peace and spent hours roaming around Mistle’s neighbourhood. Mistle hadn’t wanted to touch or kiss her since their conversation at the old warehouse, but Ciri didn’t mind too much since she had realized that what they shared was not necessarily build on physical contact.

Things were ugly. But slowly Mistle got better.

One day Ciri opened the door to Mistle’s flat and was greeted with a smile. Mistle’s hair was damp, not because she was sweating but because she had taken a shower. “I feel good,” she said and smiled, almost shyly, and Ciri knew that it was true. A familiar spark had returned to Mistle’s eyes.

............................................

The same day was the day Ciri realized that something had changed. When she walked down the street to the White Wolf pub she saw a brand new sign.

Maybe Ciri had been too busy with worrying about Mistle to notice it any earlier, but it looked like out of the blue someone had taken over the pizza place across the street from her favourite pub. The old, sun bleached sign had been replaced by bright letters that read “Pegasus Pizza”. She smiled absently at that name but continued her way towards the pub entrance without stopping.

Arriving inside she came to an abrupt halt. The pub wasn’t empty. A small crowd, but still a crowd, people of different genders and ages, dwarfs, elves and humans were scattered around the room, chatting enthusiastically with each other.

Ciri couldn’t believe her eyes at this unusual sight.

When she had made her way to the bar she had to wait a moment before Geralt had time to talk to her. “What is going on in here?” she asked, astounded, “Are you giving out free drinks? Because if that’s the case, I want one.”

Geralt chuckled. “Seems like the neighbourhood is growing in popularity,” he replied, “Dandelion’s pizza place across the street drags a lot of people into the area, I suppose.”

Ciri sat down on one of the bar stools and stared at him in disbelief. “Wait, what? Dandelion’s pizza place?” she echoed, thinking about how the weird name for the newly opened place made a lot more sense suddenly. “Since when does he… work?”

Geralt slightly grinned. “Nah… Don’t you think that he’s getting his precious hands dirty,” he answered, “He is just the owner of that place, the face of it, as you might say.” He pointed at some flyers lying on the bar shelf. Under the title “Pegasus Pizza- pizza fit for fairy tales” they showed the image of a pizza box, a sketch of Dandelion’s face right on top of it. Under the name there was a review printed out that read, “This pizza is the happy end to your personal ballad. 5/5 stars. - Dandelion, rock star”

Ciri snorted. “He is reviewing his own place? And people actually go there?” she giggled.

Geralt shrugged. “I was getting ready to laugh at him for failing at setting up a business, but apparently…” He opened up a bottle of Ciri’s favourite lemonade and set it down in front of her.

“But why pizza?” Ciri asked, taking a sip, “I thought he was in the music… business.”

“Oh he is in all the businesses. Good at everything. A man of the world,” Geralt said mockingly and rolled his eyes before adding an actual explanation, “Originally he planned to open a karaoke bar but he _didn’t want to steal my customers_ … and also the people he decided to employ claimed to be really good at baking pizza? So his _muse felt inspired to dip into something new_.”

“But how…” Ciri was about to ask even more questions as Geralt gestured her to stop talking and gently shook his head. “Enough talking about him,” he stated, “You are finally smiling again. This means Mistle is better, I assume?”

Ciri nodded and told him about the good things that had started to come back to her. Then they sat in silence for a while, a silence that was filled with the laughter and conversation of random people who enjoyed their time at the White Wolf pub.

As Ciri was about to leave two lemonades later, Geralt came back to the topic one more time. “Mistle is going to need a job soon, isn’t she?” he asked carefully.

Ciri looked at her hands for a moment. “Yeah, probably…” she then replied, “I mean I’m still in school, I can’t… support her in that regard.”

Geralt pointed at Dandelion’s flashy flyer. “I think Dandelion is in need of a delivery guy…” he said, “And so far everyone who applied didn’t _fit his aesthetic_.”

A grin appeared on Ciri’s face and stayed there on her way home.

And a week later Mistle was a Responsible Adult with a job.

..........................................

Ciri turned the key, her key, to open the door to Mistle’s flat.

The place had changed over the past year, the walls were not bare anymore, but filled with framed pictures and posters. The big room now looked like an actual living space. The mattress on the floor had been replaced by an actual bed, nestled into one of the corners of the room. A wicked grin flashed over Ciri’s face as her gaze wandered over it and she remembered countless nights she had spent there. The door felt shut behind her.

“Hey babe,” Mistle greeted her, a huge smile lighting up her face. She got up from the couch she had acquired a few weeks ago to wrap her arms around Ciri.

Ciri buried her face in the collar of her girlfriend’s shirt. She secretly enjoyed that Mistle smelled like fast food most of the time now, not like smoke. Their lips met in a tender kiss.

“How was work?” Ciri asked the taller girl quietly after they had parted. The day had been long at school, a normal thing considering the fact that her final exams were slowly but surely approaching.

“Dandelion makes us say a new thing when delivering the pizza,” Mistle answered and chuckled. She moved closer again. “Pegasus Pizza, pleasure for your palate,” she then whispered the new slogan into Ciri’s ear, her voice purposefully low, her tone unnecessarily suggestive. It was a silly joke but Ciri couldn’t help feeling turned on by her voice.

“If I didn’t know where you live I’d spent all my money on pizza, only to see you,” she whispered back and played with the huge earring Mistle was wearing, a relic from the time Mistle used to dress in stolen treasures.

“Well… if you did that I’d probably lose my job for giving away pizza for free and sleeping with a customer afterwards,” the other girl countered. They weren’t having this exchange for the first time. It had become an inside joke of some sorts.

Mistle sat down on the couch again, dragging Ciri down with her.

“Coming back to the pleasure for my palate…” Ciri remarked after they had settled in a comfortable position, “I think I know how to help myself… if you don’t have to head out again soon that is…” She put her hand on Mistle’s inner thigh, smiling at her in feigned innocence.

Mistle blushed. “First of all, your flirting is getting too powerful,” she said, “And secondly… I’m all yours for the rest of the night.”

The two girls smiled at each other as their hands interlaced. They were young and they were in love and they were absolutely invincible.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Please... don't ask me about the pizza thing, I just thought Mistle would make a very hot delivery person...)


End file.
